Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Race Recap: Magnuson Park 15K

I'm the worst blogger in the world...I didn't take one picture during the race on Saturday, so you'll have to rely on my words to get a good picture. On Saturday, February 18 I ran my first 15K as part of the Magnuson Park Race Series. I've lived across the street from this part for over 2 years and have never run a race in it until Saturday.

I honestly didn't really prepare for this race at all and just had every intention of treating is as a long run in prep for my March half marathon. I went out on Friday evening, had a couple drinks, and didn't get to sleep early. But the 10AM race start allowed me to sleep in and still have a good pre-race breakfast. My friend Carol and I hopped in the car and drove the .5 miles to the start to pick up our bib and race back into the car until the race start. The weather was horrible! It was cold and VERY windy and looked like it would downpour at any moment, but thank goodness it didn't!

The race consisted of a 5K loop that we would have to run 3 times. I was a little nervous about it being boring and wanting to end after 1 or 2 laps but surprisingly it didn't happen. The loop was pretty scenic and wound you through the entire park...through playfields, wetlands, and along the water. I went ankle deep in a puddle on the first lap so I ran with the extra weight of wet shoes and socks for the remainder of the race...awesome! Carol kept me moving pretty fast and by the 3rd lap I gave her the go ahead to sprint ahead of me. I honestly had no idea how fast I was running because I forgot to charge my Garmin so I just ran by feeling.

I crossed the finish line in 1:22:47 with a pace a little under 9:00/mile.

And...wait for it...that placed me as the 4th female in the 15K and Carol got 2nd! Let's focus on that fun fact instead of the fact that there were only 16 females running the 15K, ok?

Disclaimer: When we took these photos we didn't really know what place we got so I have multiple photos holding up different numbers :)

Carol finished in 1:20:52!

Now, I know I've been running faster lately but I'm having a really hard time believing I ran that fast, I definitely didn't feel that fast. I'm tempted to go out and run the course this week to see if it's actually a 5K loop, but maybe I should just take the time and be happy and tell myself that a sub 2 hour half is really possible!

Post race consisted of a HOT latte and scone from the bakery near my place. Then I took an amazing hot bath and an even more amazing nap. So much for a nice slow long run ;).

The rest of last week looked like this:

February 13-19, 2012

Monday:Chest & Triceps + 3 mile treadmill run - CHECK, did 3.5 mile speedwork session on the treadmillTuesday:Legs - CHECKWednesday:Back & Bicepsin the AM, run with Carol in the PM - Run didn't happen but spent 30 minutes on the elliptical after the back/bicep workoutThursday: Shoulders & Abs + cardio maybe - CHECK, ran 3 miles on the treadyFriday:Legs - REST - given my race the next day I figured it wouldn't be smart to lift on my already sore legsSaturday:15K race - but try try try to keep it slow for a long run - oops on trying to keep it slow!Sunday: REST! - Yoga in the AM, hike up a mountain in the PM

Despite hiking up a mountain, Stacey still wasn't tired enough to cooperate in the photo

I'm planning on just doing whatever feels good this week for exercise with the only goal of weight training each body part once and running three times so I'm not going to make a schedule for myself for this week.

Question: Is there a new distance you've been wanting to race? The 15K was a lot of fun and I think I'll run some more :). Plus, honestly anything less than 26.2 is pretty awesome to me right now!

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"Like the marathon, life can sometimes be difficult, challenging and present obstacles, however if you believe in your dreams and never ever give up, things will turn out for the best." – Meb Keflezighi